Real-Time SOA Platform Aims to Help Unfreeze Credit Markets

A new SOA-based online application service platform is coming in early 2009 from Storm Networks for buy-side and sell-side institutions participating in the corporate bank loan market. The Storm Loan Marketplace platform was developed in conjunction with SOA provider Quartet Financial Systems as well as Bank of America, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley.

A new SOA-based online application service platform is available from Storm Networks for buy-side and sell-side institutions participating in the corporate bank loan market.

The Storm Loan Marketplace platform was developed in conjunction with SOA provider Quartet Financial Systems as well as Bank of America, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley.

The Storm Loan Marketplace uses SOA techniques and architectures to drive real-time agent bank data across a dedicated, secure network to power the processes, procedures and functions during the life of the trade, the company said. Technology provider Quartet Financial Systems Inc. developed the software platform, based on its SOA. Xand Corp., a provider of secure, managed infrastructure, will host the Storm platform.

"Most solutions in the market today address only the symptoms of inefficiencies caused by deeper process or technological issues," said Jay Katz, Storm's managing director. "We instead focused on building a holistic solution to address the core business issues within the process that allowed the breakdown to occur in the first place," he added.

Storm Loan Marketplace also provides buy-side and sell-side participants in syndication and secondary loan markets with state-of-the-art tools and real-time data for integrated trade matching, primary and secondary trade settlement, inventory, position reconciliation, credit documentation and other critical activities, according to the company.

The platform, which is expected to go live in early 2009, is intended for use in the United States, London and other global markets.

Hard-hit financial institutions, which helped design the SOA-based solution based on their credit market needs, are enthusiastic about the prospects for the Storm Loan Marketplace platform.

"Storm is an exciting and transformational innovation for the loan market," said Steve Ewald, principal, Global Markets Group, Bank of America, in a statement. "With the volatility we are presently experiencing in the markets and the threat of counterparty failure, certainty of settlement is crucial from a risk management perspective."

Ewald said the Storm platform accomplishes the goal of fast and certain settlement by automating what was previously an inefficient manual process. "The benefits to market from a cost savings and risk reduction perspective cannot be overstated," he said.